The Carolina Hurricanes have undergone some big changes in the offseason and it’s made for a fun piece of trivia for any big hockey fans.
The question: Who is the fifth highest paid forward on the Carolina Hurricanes?
Obviously that’s a pretty tough question, especially for anyone who isn’t a ‘Canes fan, but regardless of your guess, the answer is pretty fun. That player is Alexander Semin, who hasn’t played for the team in three seasons. He was bought out by the team after the 2014-15 season and he is still being paid $2.3 million for the next three years.
To give context, he would rank much lower on most other teams like the Senators (9th), Red Wings (10th), Capitals (8th) or the Canadiens (7th). The only other team in the league that would have Semin as their fifth highest paid forward or higher would be the Toronto Maple Leafs – which speaks to how young Carolina’s core has become.
The Leafs are often looked at as one of the younger teams in the league (Although a couple outliers have dragged their average age up), but Carolina might be the youngest team in league next season.
Looking at their projected lines on Daily Faceoff (And adding in goalies), their average age projects to be 24.8 at the moment. Last season, Colorado and Columbus tied for the lowest opening day average age of 25.0. By restructuring some of their roster this offseason, Carolina has managed to get even younger, which means that a lot of their players will be on entry-level contracts and it makes sense that Alex Semin would be their fifth highest paid forward.
It will be an interesting year in Carolina.
